Stumpy Point
On the shores of the Croatoan Sound, there is a series of settlements vastly opposed to both the Albemarle Pact and the Pamlico Confederation. Calling themselves the Croatoan Sound, they rally for peace and freedom in the Broken Banks. Heading these settlements is Stumpy Point. The Turner Family has a very loose power base, ruling largely from behind the scenes rather than other families in the Broken Banks that tend to have a direct hand in the sayings of the area. Nominally, Stumpy Point is a republic ruled by a council of eleven representatives headed by an elected prime minister. However, in truth Stumpy Point is a haven of pirates, bandits, raiders, and many other forms of outlaws that have taken to the Broken Banks. History Pre-War Before the war, Stumpy Point was an unincorporated community along the Outer Banks located on a peninsula along the Croatoan sound. It bore similarities to much of the pre-war communities along the Outer Banks until the creation of the Exodus Project. During the 2060s, entrepreneur Frederick Turner commissioned a project to 'compete' with the Vault project. Turner, who owned a summer home near Stumpy Point, was a banker from Charlotte. Dissatisfied over Vault-Tec, Turner purchased a number of retired naval ships and worked with his company, Bank of the Commonwealths and other allied companies to create an expansive series of docks and emergency apartments in Stumpy Point. The Exodus Project was a means of getting a large amount of population into these ships before departing should a disaster happen. The ships were to land at one of several locations in the Atlantic Ocean. Over the 2070s, several different locations were built for the Exodus Project, including a dock in the US Virgin Islands, Florida, a location on the shores of Antarctica, and a location in Liberia. When the US annexed Canada, they began building a dock in Labrador, though this was never completed by the time of the Great War. In Stumpy Point, these docks were a series of concrete bunkers fashioned around the drydocks of the various ships. They were designed to hold over 1,500 people, much like a Vault, with the ships being designed to hold over 1,500 civilians, aside from the former aircraft carrier USS Richard Nixon, which could carry up to 5,000 people. The population boost deprived the area of inhabitants, leaving Engelhard and many other communities in a deep recession that only ended with the Great War. Post-War When the bombs fell, the three ships were set to leave the harbor. Roughly three hours after the bombs fell, the USS Richard Nixon, the USS Phoenix, and the USS Eleanor Roosevelt' were set to launch. The docking clamps on the USS Eleanor Roosevelt failed and the ship was prevented from leaving the Docks. It has remained there to this day, never having been moved from its position. The USS Richard Nixon and the USS Phoenix left the docks, each with 1,500 people onboard. The USS Richard Nixon ran into chop and hit a barrier island, sinking somewhere off the coast of the Outer Banks. The USS Phoenix circumnavigated the world twice before arriving in the Virgin Islands. Frederick Turner remained in Stumpy Point; he had intended to sail out on the USS Eleanor Roosevelt. When the ship did not leave the docks he went to his house to 'die in peace.' When the radiation did not kill him or the inhabitants, he became somewhat of a leader for those left in Stumpy Point. Over time, the fortress that was The Docks helped the survivors inside fend of raider attacks, mirelurk infestations, and many other forms of violence. When Frederick Turner passed away, his son became the mayor of Stumpy Point. As the generations passed and caravans came along, the Turner family realized how much of a living they could make on sea-based trade. As various groups rose to power in the Albemarle and Pamlico sounds, Stumpy Point remained a halfway point for trade. Unfortunately for the town, it was constantly under attack by raiders. Stumpy Point knew something had to be done to either eliminate the raiders or appease them. The Corsair Accord In 2133, Martin Turner issued The Corsair Accord. The terms were as follows: *Any and all unlanded people wishing to increase their wealth though alternative means will be allowed to operate without interference from Stumpy Point and Her Allies if registered with Stumpy Point. *Stumpy Point will sell weapons and ammunition to registered organizations in bulk. *Stumpy Point will remain a neutral ground forever. All weapons are to be put on safety or knotted to one's belt within the territory of Stumpy Point. Discharge of weapons beyond these borders will result in swift action. *Theft, trespassing, and assault are capital crimes in Stumpy Point *Your wars, debts, grudges and other forms of ill-intention, personal or otherwise, are left at the doors and docks. *All Corsairs that act in the interest of Stumpy Point will be compensated. *All Corsairs must enforce these rules. Essentially, the Corsair Accord made Stumpy Point a safe haven for pirates and bandits, with violation of this neutral ground resulting in deadly force. Almost immediately, denizens began to flock to Stumpy Point to register their bands and ships. However, one prominent group known as the Locusts chose to see this as a sign of weakness and attacked Stumpy Point. Their raiding band was killed almost instantly, with one surviving. The Corsairs tortured this man and gathered the location of the Locusts' main settlement. Within the span of a day, the pirates of Stumpy Point found and destroyed their settlement. Disappearance of Manteo After Stumpy Point demonstrated the power of the Corsair Accord, the settlement became a permanent fixture in the climate of the Broken Banks, competing with the fledgling Elizabeth City and the powerful Manto families. Factions of pirates rose and fell with the years, radioactive hurricanes battered the coast, and waves after waves of famine devastated the region, yet Stumpy Point remained. After the decades of catastrophe and sorrow in the Broken Banks, one major occurrence shook the entire coast of the Carolinas: the disappearance of the Manteo Family. As the Johnson Family clamored to fill the power-void left by the loss of the Manteos, the pirates of Stumpy Point began to search for what happened to Manteo. Curious adventurers traveled to the shores of Roanoke Island, while greedy pirates and raiders prepared to sail to the ruins of Manteo to pick them clean. Nobody who went to Roanoke Island came back. The loss of Manteo and the disappearance of any travelers to Roakoke Island led Stumpy Point to prepare for the worst. Corsairs were paid to maintain a blockade around Stumpy Point and the waters were littered with mines. As the years passed and nothing happened, the blockade was loosened. The mines were haphazardly allowed to float into the Albemarle and Croatoan sounds. Some remain today, remaining primed to detonate and very dangerous. An addendum was added to the Corsair Accord, requiring each corsair owning a ship to spend a certain percentage of their time unmoored from Stumpy Point in blockade formation. Over a century since the disappearance of the Manteo family, Stumpy Point still hasn't forgotten the sheer terror the Broken Banks felt. Clashes With the Banks In an effort to provide a safe haven for the people of Stumpy Point after the disappearance of Manteo, the city-state began to claim areas for themselves in the 2200s, namely Engelhard and Shaol Trading Post. While this was done in the interest of security and defense against whatever caused the disappearance of everyone on Roanoke Island, these actions were seen as aggressive by some of the states of the Broken Banks, namely Elizabeth City, who had recently waged war against Columbia, another upstart city-state. In the meantime, their alliance with pirates and other 'undesirable' elements of the wasteland caused concern with the people of New Bern. In 2210, Elizabeth City proposed the Outer Banks Defense Pact. Namely an alliance to prevent one faction from attacking the others, it was enacted primarily to prevent Stumpy Point's further expansion. In response, Stumpy Point claimed Mann's Harbor. While the town was quickly handed over to a private investor, Elizabeth City was furious, going so far as to name Stumpy Point a rogue state. The pirates of Stumpy Point began actively seeking out Elizabeth City merchant ships, further cementing Stumpy Point's place in the Broken Banks as a raider city. In 2213, Darren Turner proclaimed the Croatoan Free States, a collective of city-states wishing to be free from both Elizabeth City and from New Bern. Before long, much of the Inner Banks along the Croatoan Sound had joined the Croatoan Free States. This alliance effectively prevented either the Albemarle Pact or the Pamlico Confederation from claiming territory along the Croatoan Sound. By 2250, the Croatoan Free States comprised of a stretch of land from Swanquarter to Mann's Harbor. The Scourge of Cogsbeard the Pirate In 2243, just as the tensions between Stumpy Point and the rest of the Banks came to an end, a new trouble reared its head. Cogsbeard the Pirate, a synth from the Massachusetts Commonwealth, began a series of raids along the Inner and Outer Banks that devastated communities everywhere. After finding the USS Richard Nixon, Cogsbeard spent the better part of a decade finding Protectrons and Mister Handys to man his ship, prepare the ship for combat, and plot a heinous raid against the fortress of Stumpy Point. The ship sailed into Stumpy Point waters and began to shell The Docks. Ships stranded in the docks sank and the massive wall that had withstood hurricanes, raiders, and 150 years of weathering began to crumble. Only as the smoke cleared did the people of Stumpy Point realized that Cogsbeard had landed his ship in The Docks and was currently invading the city with an army of robots. The machines raced through the corridors of The Docks, killing anyone in their way. They took anything deemed 'of value' by Cogsbeard, and left as quickly as they came, the lost ship slipping back into the foggy waters of the Broken Banks. To date, this is the only time the walls of Stumpy Point have ever failed to protect the people inside. Today, a giant sheet of iron serves as a grim reminder of the day Cogsbeard the Pirate toppled the mightiest fortress of the Broken Banks. Croatoan Free States After Cogbeard attacked Stumpy Point, the Croatoan Free States began a hunt for the pirate. This synth, however, proved to be more elusive than had been expected. He was known for performing operations in a quick and brutal manner. The Croatoan Free States issued a number of reforms to prevent the disaster that was Cogsbeard from ever entering the ports of Stumpy Point again. Then, in 2253, another series of reforms was enacted, making Stumpy Point the only haven for pirates and raiders. With this, the Croatoan Free States grew closer to their neighbors in the Broken Banks. While they still believe the Johnsons and the Wilsons to be menaces to the Broken Banks, they enjoy a military alliance with the major factions of the Broken Banks, meaning to keep the people of the Broken Banks free from outside influence. Category:Places Category:Broken Banks Category:North Carolina